Another death, 70-year old man dies at Goalpara Detention centre

April 7: It’s not a maiden instance. Many people till now have lost their lives in the detention camps of Assam. The latest addition to this list is the 70-year old Amrit Das. He was a resident of Ward Number 10 of Barpeta Road. Probably none knows how many more such deaths would take place in the near future!

Amrit Das was declared a foreigner through an ex-parte judgment by a Foreigners Tribunal (FT) on May 20th, 2018. However, surprisingly Das languishing in the Detention Centre inspite of having ‘valid legacy data.’

He was lodged at a detention camp in Goalpara. Das was a heart patient and had complained of uneasiness on 6 April, 2019 following which he was admitted to Goalpara Civil Hospital, where he breathed his last on April 6th, 2019.

Following his death, his family members refused to take the body and perform the last rites of Das. Reacting to his death, one of the family members of the deceased stated that, If he was a foreigner, then the government should take his body to the place where he belonged and perform the last rites.

Local people including AASU has expressed deep concern towards the death of Amrit Das. AASU leaders stated that the inmates of the detention centres are deprived of their fundamental rights.